New Death Valley awaits fans Saturday

CLEMSON – As Clemson fans enter Death Valley for Saturday’s home opener against Ball St., the cosmetic differences in the Tigers’ home will be noticeable, eye-popping, and welcome.

The most noticeable difference will be in the new video board at the top of The Hill, the two video boards situated in the corners of the WestZone, and the lengthening of the ribbon boards that separate the upper deck from the lower deck.

Clemson has spent $3.8 million in upgrades to not only Clemson Memorial Stadium, but other home venues across campus, according to Mike Money, the Director of Marketing.

“The upgrades are primarily in football with a few other areas,” Money told TigerNet last week. “The primary video board at the top of the hill was upgraded to an HD board. The quality is amazing on that board now. We also took out the fixed digit scoreboard with lights and made it into a digital scoreboard. In the past, with the sun hitting it, it would he hard to read. Now, with the new LED display, it will make it better for fans. The one part that stayed the same was the LED display below the scoreboard for the sponsors. That will stay the same.”

The ribbon boards also got an upgrade.

“Two of the bigger additions were the LED displays that we previously just had in the center,” he said. “Now they are extended down on both sides, where we now have full coverage. There we will have crowd prompts, sponsors and stats. That will make a tremendous impact on the stadium, because that will really pop at nighttime.”

There are also the new tower boards, tucked into the corners of the WestZone but easily visible from every seat in the house.

“Another thing that is a huge addition for the game atmosphere and the fans are the two new tower boards in the WestZone,” Money said. “They are HD boards, and they will mirror the content of the big board on the hill. The biggest key is that every seat in the stadium will have a view of an HD board, no matter where you are sitting. Not many stadiums can say that. By putting those boards in the corner, it will add to the stadium experience. Also, on the fascia in the WestZone, where we used to have a fixed scoreboard, there is now another digital scoreboard. So we now have two fixed, digital scoreboards in the WestZone.”

The improvements don’t stop there, however.

“The other major change is the sound system,” Money said. “We now have a top of the line sound system, and there are very few stadiums that have a sound system of this quality. That will be another noticeable difference for the fans.”

And for those that couldn’t send or receive text messages or make calls when the stadium was full last season, Clemson and Verizon have taken steps to remedy that situation.

“We have added cell phone boosters outside of the stadium,” Money said. “And inside the stadium, there are flag poles at the top of the stadium that are cellphone boosters and their primary function is to boost the signal inside the stadium. From what I understand, the primary function is to help with calls, but data should definitely be improved as well. There will also be COW’s – which is for Cell On Wheels – to help with calls in the parking lots. That shows the commitment Verizon is making to our fans.”

Money noted that there have also been improvements to the scoreboard and video board at Riggs field, at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and in Littlejohn Coliseum.

“I think all of these upgrades show that IPTAY is committed to providing the best fan experience possible,” he said. “Not only in football, but in every sport, because at Clemson that is extremely important to us.”